Chapter 4

It took us three days on foot to travel back to Oar. Nothing had changed. The town was still filled with the sound of seagulls, mixed with the smell of fish freshly caught, and the voices of the sailors and fisherman rowdy with their first drinks after a long day. Lilith was asleep on my back as we made our way to the guild hall, it was still early for to many members to be back so it was still fairly quiet and I was not so worried to wake her. I felt the weight of the girl come off as I noticed Jacks pull her into his arms as he said, "I'll take her upstairs and into bed, go tell the captain of the day."
"But. . ."
"This was your mission lad, it is your responsibility." I nodded and made my way to the bar where I saw him nursing what I guessed was his second cup of mead.
I was nervous, I felt like I had done something wrong, I sat with and tried to find the words. "You don't have to tell me to much son, I already know of what happened. . . Well I know some different versions of it."
"Of what I did to the lord of Woodside?" He nodded and I sighed and dropped my head onto the bar. "What have you heard?"
"Oh let's see. I heard you came back with three bear pelts and a little girl who was attacked by them, you could the bears with one shot in total and threw the pelts at his feet. He graciously accepted them but said he had no money so you plundered his house and when he objected you threatened to kill him and his entire family and staff of house."
"That's. . ."
"False, I know. Because that was the letter from the lord himself. I know of him quite well and his mistreatment of the guilds and their members. He finds us low and greedy. I also. . ." He began rummaging through his paperwork in front of him until he found what he was looking for. "Have this letter of announcements for the kingdom. It states:
As of today the third of the frost month 742, that Lord Barcus has renounced his title of lordship over Woodside after a riot from peasants had taken place 3 days before after a guild member from The Witch's Broom had taken a request. He did not give reason but only to say it is what is best for the people.
Do you care to enlighten me son?" I began with when we entered the town and told him of what we had actually found, of what occurred when we returned and my reaction the horrible treatment we had received. "Well I'll be damned." He finished his mead, drank a good portion of that before setting it down and then he was quiet. "This is quite the dilemma." I nodded. "The girl is upstairs now? Good I shall want to speak with her and this demon that resides in her. It may be better to kill them both, although a demon as weak as how you described it may actually prove more useful if the girl can pry inside of it. But as for your punishment. . ."
"I thought you approved sir!"
"I do, I highly approve but you threatened a man's life, you did so in front of witnesses and he was a lord. So a ceremony will be held to make you an official member of the guild with your new title of course. I could see his smile as he drank more mead but he made sure it was gone by the time he stopped."
"I don't understand."
"Well you threatening a lord like that means certain death unless you're a guild member. As a guild member I write a formal apology for my member causing a stir, jot down what happened and it is considered something that could not be helped. We guild get away with almost anything as long as it was necessary. Was it?"
"If he was still there it was very likely no one would have accepted jobs there eventually and the town would have suffered. . ."
"Exactly. Necessary." I watched him take another drink and again I saw him smiling. It was that moment I really understood why guilds were so important to our kingdom.
Inside the great hall of Oar, where Lord Aidan met with the townsfolk is where my ceremony was. Even my parents had come. My official crest became three arrows in front of a sword that was wrapped in a vine. It was stitched onto new clothes, and a red cloak that were given to me for the celebration and was put onto a silver pendant to show that I was no longer in training. I was accepted into the ranks by the captain himself and Jacks. They both had made speeches and I was nervous the entire time, yet I know I liked it too. This is what I had always wanted, to be on adventures and to help people. But everything was cut short.
There was a bang at the doors and people jumped and you could hear little shouts throughout the hall. It came again, and again, and again. Finally the door was broken and that is when we all saw him. The man I had caused to resign from his lordship.
"You! I am forced to lose my title because of you! Not only that but they reward you for it? I did not realize you weren't even a fully fledged lackey until yesterday."
"Sir you are not welcome here. . ."
"Shut up Aidan, I've always hated you, and it is my right to challenge that man to single combat!"
There was shock among everyone there and I saw my father's hand begin to glow, like they always did when he summoned his power. He looked at me and I slightly shook his head. "I accept." I said calmly.
"Then meet me outside and I shall slit that pretty throat of yours." and he walked away.
"I thought challenges were to first blood?" I asked Jacks.
"In the guild they are, we don't want to kill each other. But the law of the kingdom is to the death."
When we made our way outside, a circle had already been made and rope was being put around the edges of posts. "Come kill me Jasper the Hunter." I looked the people that had come out with me, the captain, Jacks, and my parents.
"You'll do just fine if you remember your training."
"But this is close combat."
"That's why I said to remember your training. With a bow you are a natural but a sword had to be taught." I heard my mother give a small gasp, I turned and hugged her.
"I'll be fine mother." I told her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Son, you are a warrior at heart it seems, but your blood runs with magic, even if you cant use it. If you can track as good as I have heard in the small time you have been gone, then follow his movements, every man has a certain way of moving that they learn when they pick up any skill. Find it, and use it." His hands on my face was so familiar I almost forgot about the challenge. To hear him give advice like that made me think of how he talked to my sister before she finally left to join a guild of her own. I patted his hand and gave him a hug before unclasping my cloak. I took off my shirt and I heard my mother gasp again, but I kept walking because it was only from her seeing the scars of my training. Jacks was not an easy man, sometimes his training went to far, but I had taken it all in stride and was the only one to have ever survived.
Claw marks from a tiger ran from my left shoulder blade to the back of my right hip. My right shoulder and half of the bicep was burned from escaping a burning house. Whip marks from when I went undercover in a slave caravan for Jacks spotted my spine. I stretched my arms before picking up a war-axe instead of a sword. I could hear Jacks clap and encouraging me already. I was better with anything I could use to survive with then I was with a sword. That was because of the three months I had spent on my own in the woods before Jacks would even let me pick up a weapon for training. He have me some rope, a dagger, and an axe. He had kept close eye on me but at a distance so I would not ask for help. All of that time he had learned one thing about me. If it meant me, or someone else, I would survive, it was the second thing I did best besides tracking, it was when I became a hunter.
As I tested the axe in my hand by giving it a few swings I finally let all of my thoughts go and let my senses take over. I could smell the sweat of the man in front of me. I could hear the cheers of the crowd. I saw the shaking of his hands as he held his sword and dagger. I felt the warm leather in my hands and the soft earth beneath my boots. I licked my lips and tasted the air which was rich with water from the humid day. I took all of these things into account before Barcus charged me. I heard his scream, saw the murderous intent in his eyes but I also saw the fear which slowed him down. I dodged to the side, hooked his leg and used his own weight to flip him onto the ground. I could have killed him then but since I only intended to survive, this was self defense only.
He slowly got to his feet and I saw him clenching his hand which wasn't holding his sword, but I was to late to realize why. He turned and it was at that moment I saw the sand flying into my face. I tried my best to cover my eyes but since it was still dry it spread out. i tried not to claw at my eyes, I closed them as tightly as I could so tears would form and wash them naturally. Barcus did not waste his time though and rushed me to the ground. I felt his body tense up, so at the last second I dodged his blade, I heard it sink into the earth, I dodged again and again but the last one clipped me and it began to burn.
It should not have hurt so bad, Jacks has cut me before, so I would know the pain and it had never hurt like this. The only logical thought I could think of was that it was poisoned, which was against the rules. I tried to struggle up but he had me pinned, he placed his dagger across my throat and I felt his breath in my ear. "If you say a word, I shall slit your throat peasant. True I will kill you anyways, but if they stop this fight, they will not know the antidote needed to save your life now will they? Hunter?"
"You're nothing but a coward, could not face me on equal ground. . ."
"Of course I could but I like having the upper hand, Jasper you must have realized that by now." I could feel something burning, it was most intense on my forearms, like it came in waves and had a rippling effect. "W-w-what are you doing? Stop that."
"Stop what you mongrel?"
"What is wrong with your hands?? I still couldn't see but a thought started to form inside of my head, it was not exactly made of words but of the knowledge of what to do, I put my hands out as far as I could and willed. . . fire.
There was a bang as the matter in front of my hands changed to something combustible and blasted Barcus off of me. there was silence as I stood and rubbed my eyes. I looked down at my hands and saw the red glow I had always seen from my father but more intense. I saw the burned lines of a fire mage, the thick rings with three thin rings in between. Finally the pain subsided. I stood there awe struck at what had just happened.
A fighter had gained magic, yes I came from a family of mages but even I had thought it not possible. Then the clapping began, from my father, then my mother and the rest soon followed.